Chapter Twenty-One:

Legacy of the Mentor

2012

"We're here," Jared said. "We'll bring the jet around to pick you up in half an hour. We can't spare anymore time than that."

I nodded. Hopefully, I'd be able to find something—anything!—that would yield me some answers.

Walter put a hand on my shoulder. "We'll continue that 'history lesson' later then, shall we?"

"Of course! It's not like I'm going to keel over!" At least, I hope not…

I opened the door of the jet and shouldered a parachute. I leaped out as my two-second window opened, and dived down to the Earth. With the aid of the parachute, I landed softly among the ruins of the airport, where the satellite had crashed down only a few months ago. So far, it looked abandoned.

I pulled my hood up and started to search after I unhooked my parachute. I hurried to get through the piles upon piles of rubble to the satellite, which the government hadn't taken yet. I managed to get there in ten minutes, but I knew I had lost valuable time. With almost half of my time gone, I sifted through the satellite, hoping to find some sort of trace of Altair's Apple.

"Pick-up in five minutes!" Jared said into the comm.

I cursed and hurried to find it. As the clock came closer to my next window of opportunity (this time to get the hell out), I started to panic. This was the only chance I'd ever get! How would I be able to come back once the Templars realized what I was doing?

And then, as I started to make my way out of the ruins of the satellite, a glimmer caught my eye. My hope rekindled, I dug after it. I reached into the tiny hole, hoping to touch something circular, but I ended up grabbing something jagged and small, no larger than my little finger. I pulled it up through the satellite and examined it. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a piece of the Apple, but whether it was all that was left, or simply a piece that came off due to the impact, I wasn't certain. It glowed softly in my hand, and, for a moment, I was entranced by it. I managed to stop looking at it and pocketed the fragment, then hurried to where the jet would be landing.

I nearly missed it, but I managed to signal the pilot to stop before he took-off. As soon as we took to the skies again, Jared bombarded me with questions.

"Did you find it?" Jared asked hurriedly.

I hesitated. "No. I didn't."

Jared, I could see, was crestfallen. Maybe he thought it was destroyed? But I decided not to tell him about the fragment of Altair's Apple. My life was, literally, in my own pocket, and I intended to keep it that way. So, before anyone could hound me again, I got a piece of string and tied it well around the fragment, then I hung it around my neck. Hopefully, that's where it would stay.

1217

"I did not know that Maria was married before this…" I muttered.

"She was probably married-off," Darim suggested. "I mean, you know the English. And you know our mother! I wouldn't be surprised if the reason she left for the Crusades was to simply be away from such a marriage."

Sef shook his head. "But to be betrothed without consent is just…"

"I wonder how Maria feels about this," I said.

"Well, after her shouting match with Robert DeQuincy, I can imagine she's about ready to kill him."

"Once we get out to Mongolia, she can kill whoever she wants," Darim responded.

I sighed. "And the Grandmaster…?"

"He has nothing against mother," Sef told me. "I'm sure that he's simply confused about all of this, but he feels no ill-will towards her."

I nodded. "Well, that is all that matters. We will leave for the East in a few days' time, and this nonsense will be behind us."

My brothers and I walked through the markets and bought something to eat. It allowed us a momentary respite to the madness going on at the keep. I was honestly surprised that no one in Masyaf had heard Maria screaming obscenities at Robert.

"I am surprised at the break we got, though," Darim remarked.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

"Well, for three years in a row, we had to deal with your drama. A twelve-year break was something I needed."

My eye involuntarily twitched. "My drama?" I grabbed moved quickly and locked my arm around Darim's neck, and then walked him straight to the well. Darim was struggling madly to get out of my grasp. "I apologize if my biological family made you go crazy! How do you think I feel about this, you little whelp?"

Darim didn't reply because I tossed him into the water. He splashed up to the surface and grinned.

"I apologize, sister. I was merely trying to provoke you."

"Well it worked!" I snapped.

Sef was laughing on the bench we had previously been sitting on. "You two act more childish than my own children!"

I stuck my tongue out at my brothers in response.

1512

Altair. My father, my savoir, my Grandmaster, and my Mentor. The man who had given me so much; strength, being, knowledge and a purpose. There he was, sitting in his chair. If Ezio and I would have been in complete darkness, I would have expected Altair to stand and welcome me, smiling as he usually did.

But Altair was sitting slack in his chair. And despite the hood covering his face, I could see the skull underneath. Ezio took a few steps forward, his eyes moving to something. He knelt in front of the skeleton of my father and gently pulled the final Masyaf Key from his bony hand. Ezio stared at it, the light of the Key engulfing both of us.

"You have seen to my books?" Altair asked Darim, his hood lowered and a box tucked under his arm.

"Yes. Some we sent with the Polos. The rest will go with me to Alexandria," Darim answered formally.

Altair nodded. "Good. Very good."

The sight of the two made me want to look away. I couldn't stop the emotions welling up inside of me as I watched them, as if I didn't exist.

"Father, I do not understand… why did you build a library if you did not intend to keep your books—?"

"You should go. When the Mongols return, Masyaf must be empty."

Darim let his head fall back, as if he understood something. "I see. This is not a library at all. It is a vault."

"It must stay hidden, Darim. Far from eager hands. At least until it has passed on the secret it contains."

"What secret?"

Altair held up his free hand dismissively. "Go, son. Go be with your family, and live well."

Darim shut his eyes for a moment before he stepped towards his father and embraced him. "All that is good in me, began with you, father."

The two men released each other. Altair nodded to his son as Darim stepped back, wordlessly telling him everything his son needed to know. Darim brought his left hand across his chest and closed his fist, bowing slightly to show his respect to the Grandmaster. The door began to close, and Darim turned away from his father, tears evident on his cheeks. Altair pulled his hood up as the door closed, and walked through the hall towards the main chamber. He seemed deep in thought as he walked down the path, putting out the fires of the torches as he went along. From the box, he brought out the Apple to light his way. He passed his chair and continued to the wall, where there had previously been the symbol of the Assassins. Now, there was a pedestal.

Altair placed the Apple on the pedestal and pressed a piece of stone beside the makeshift shrine. The Apple was sealed-off, like Altair, and the familiar Assassins Insignia was on the wall again like how I remembered it. Altair turned from it, put his hands in front of him, and tried to find a way back through the darkness. His hands finally touched his chair, and so he sat in it. For a moment—a brief moment—Altair sat straight and tall in it, as if regarding the Assassins like he used to when he held meetings with Master Assassins.

Altair pulled a last Key from his robe and stared deeply into it. Finally, he smiled softly, and held the Key tightly in his hand before his eyes closed embraced death.

I didn't care that I was crying as I saw what was on the Key. Ezio gripped they Key and looked up at Altair.

"No books… no wisdom. Just you, fratello mio." Ezio stood tall with the Key in his hand. "Requiescat in Pace, Altair."

Ezio didn't look back at me, and I was thankful that he didn't. Instead, he crossed the room to the place where Altair had hidden the Apple away. He pressed the stone that Altair had some three-hundred years ago, and revealed it.

Ezio's hand hovered over the Apple. "Another artefact?" Reluctantly, I saw Ezio pull away. "No. You will stay here." He backed away from the Apple. "I have seen enough for one life."

The Apple suddenly flashed, engulfing the room in the Apple's golden hue. Ezio covered his eyes, as did I, and only when the light faded did we dare open them again. The room was outlined with the Apple's power, the gold touching every corner.

"Desmond?" Ezio called all of a sudden. "I heard your name once before, Desmond, a long time ago. And now it lingers in my mind like an image from an old dream." Ezio looked around the room. "I do not know where you are, or by what means you can hear me. But I know you are listening."

Wordlessly, Ezio untied the bracers around his arms and let them fall. His hidden blade and hookblade hit the floor with a thump! and made an echo in the room, one that made me cringe. His sword was next. He held it out, admiring the blade, and then released it as if it was nothing to him.

"I have lived my life as best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon. And here at last, I discover a strange truth. That I am only a conduit for a message that eludes my understanding. Who are we, who have been blessed to share our stories like this? To speak across centuries? Maybe you will be the one who will answer all the questions I have asked. Maybe you will be the one to make all this suffering worth something in the end." I saw what Ezio saw. A man, who looked so much like both Ezio and Altair, stood in front of us, wearing strange things with markings on his left arm. He did not appear to see us, though. "Now…" Ezio put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Listen…"

Light engulfed the room once more. Whatever Ezio said, it was drowned-out by a sudden ringing in my ears. When the light faded, Ezio was walking towards me, a smile on his face.

"My time is over, Sofia," he told me. "But yours still holds truth and purpose. I hope you will live your life to the best of your abilities, as I have mine."

I hugged Ezio as tightly as I could. The Mentor of the Italian Assassins held me just as tightly.

"I thank you, amico," he said. "I owe you so much."

I finally released him. "Think nothing of it," I told him.

I looked at his hidden blade and hookblade on the floor. I picked up his sword and placed it against the wall beside the Assassin's Insignia, and then put his hidden blade and hookblade in my satchel.

"What are you doing?" Ezio asked.

"It would not do to leave weapons around here like this, Auditore." I smiled and handed him my satchel. "Would you carry this out for me?"

Ezio took it and slung it over his shoulder. "What, am I your bag-boy now?"

I smiled. "No." I carefully took Altair's body into my arms. "My hands are simply full."

Ezio nodded as I adjusted the body. It seemed the bones were still in place and holding, but I did not want to take any chances. His arms were crossed on his chest, his head lolling into a sleeping position. It made me sad to think of him as a simple skeleton, when I had lived my entire life with him. Ezio and I crossed the room and walked down the hallway, where Ezio put out the torches. He climbed the stairs ahead of me and opened the door on my instruction.

Sofia's eyes greeted us with happiness, but were soon turned to shock when she realized what I was carrying. Ezio held Sofia in his arms.

"It is over," he told her.

Sofia rested her head on Ezio's shoulder. "Ezio, why is Poco Sofia carrying that…?"

Ezio politely shushed her as he noticed my tears. I moved past the two and walked outside, where the snow was falling gently. I walked Altair all the way down to the edge of Masyaf, where a tiny hill overlooked the cliffs and the water below. I placed Altair beside three ruined headstones, found a shovel, and started to dig.

"Tell her what you want," I told Ezio over my shoulder. "I am not in the mood to care for such a thing."

"Very well," Ezio said. He took Sofia to the side, and so I stopped listening. Almost an hour later, I was finished digging, and placed Altair's skeleton in the grave beside his wife. I shoved the dirt back into the Earth, found a stone, and used the shovel to carve out the best headstone I could.

هنا يكمن نسر بن لوس انجليس الاحد
غراند ماستر وسام قاتل
الزوج ، الاب ، صديق ، مينتور
قد تجد روحه السلام ، وأحبائهم الذي تركه

Ezio looked at the inscription on the headstone. "What does it say?" he asked.

I wiped the last of the tears from my eyes and read, "Here lies Altair Ibn La'Ahad. Grandmaster of the Assassin Order. Husband, Father, Friend, Mentor. May his soul find peace, and the loved ones he left behind."

"The ones he left behind?"

I nodded. "One day, I want to be where Altair is. Whether it be Paradise, Hell, or an empty void, I want to be there."

Ezio's hand was on one of my shoulders, and Sofia's occupied the other one. "Wherever Altair is," Sofia said, "I am sure that he is proud of you."

I looked at the other headstones. Beside Altair was Maria, beside her was Sef, and lastly was Malik.

"Who are the others?" Sofia asked.

I pointed to each one. "Maria, my mother; Sef, my youngest brother; Malik, Altair's best friend, and the closest person I'd ever had to an uncle."

Ezio helped me to my feet. "Mi dispiace, Sofia, but we must go. Our ship might sail without us."

I nodded. "Si, you are right."

Ezio, Sofia and I walked arm-in-arm back to the ship. This time, as I walked away, I knew that at least a few ghosts had been put to rest.